Unit Operations Lab Gas Absorption

Gas Absorption
Overview
In gas absorption a component carrier by a gas stream is absorbed in a liquid phase. In this
experiment you will use a packed column to absorb CO2 from air into water. A schematic of the
system is shown in Figure 1. The gas and water streams enter the column from the bottom and the
top, respectively. The flowrates of these streams are controlled using rotameters. The CO2
composition of the inlet gas stream is controlled by valves for CO2 and air. The system allows
measurement of CO2 concentration in the inlet and outlet gas streams using infrared CO2 sensors.
The concentration of CO2 in the inlet water stream can be assumed to be equal to zero. The
pressure drop in the gas phase is measured using the differential manometer.
The following independent degrees of freedom can be varied in this experiment:
Water flow rate
Gas flow rate
CO2 concentration in the inlet gas

Outlet gas, yout

Inlet liquid, xin

Inlet CO2

Outlet liquid, xout V13

Figure 1. Schematic of CO2/water absorption system

Objectives
The main purpose of this experiment is to evaluate performance of a packed gas-liquid absorption
tower.
The specific objectives are:
1. Determine the flooding velocities.
2. Determine dependence of the pressure drop on the flow rates.
3. Determine the time required to reach steady state for various flow rates.

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Unit Operations Lab Gas Absorption
4. Determine the mass transfer coefficient for a range of flow rates. For this you will use the
experimentally measured flow rates and compositions of the streams and compute the mass
transfer coefficient using the number of transfer units (NTU) method.
5. Investigate mass transfer rate as the system approaches its flooding point.
6. Develop an empirical relationship between the flow rates and the mass transfer coefficient
using the experimental data.
7. Verify the empirical relationship by predicting the CO2 composition in outlet streams at a
new set of operating conditions and comparing the prediction with experimental
measurements performed at these conditions.

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